2018 in paleontology

Paleontology or palaeontology (from Greek: paleo, "ancient"; ontos, "being"; and logos, "knowledge") is the study of prehistoriclife forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils.[1] This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 2018.

A stony coral belonging to the superfamily Cyclolitoidea and the family Synastraeidae. The type species is G. alexi; genus also includes G. audiensis (Reig Oriol, 1992), G. haueri (Reuss, 1854) and G. parvistella (Oppenheim, 1930).

A rugosecoral belonging to the new family Amplexoididae. The type species is "Ningqiangophyllum" crassothecatum Cao (1975); genus also includes "Ningqiangophyllum" tenuiseptatum irregulare Cao (1975) (raised to the rank of a separate species Neopilophyllia irregularis), "Ningqiangophyllum" ephippium Cao (1975) and "Pilophyllia" alternata Chen in Wang et al. (1986).

A study on the body size of several brachiopod assemblages recorded into the extinction interval prior to the Toarcian turnover, collected from representative localities around the Iberian Massif (Spain and Portugal), is published by García Joral, Baeza-Carratalá & Goy (2018).[25]

A study evaluating the δ18O variation within a species-rich conodont assemblage from the Ordovician (Floian) Factory Cove Member of the Shallow Bay Formation, Cow Head Group (western Newfoundland, Canada), as well as assessing the implications of these data for determining the paleothermometry of ancient oceans and conodont ecologic models, is published by Wheeley et al. (2018).[56][57][58]

A study on the body size and diversity of Carnian conodonts from South China and their implications for inferring the biotic and environmental changes during the Carnian Pluvial Event is published by Zhang et al. (2018).[59]

A study assessing the similarity of late Paleozoic to Triassic conodont faunas known from the Cache Creek Terrane (Canada) is published by Golding (2018).[60]

Reconstruction of the number and arrangement of elements in the apparatus of Hindeodus parvus published by Zhang et al. (2017)[62] is criticized by Agematsu, Golding & Orchard (2018);[63] Purnell et al. (2018) defend their original conclusions.[64]

A cluster of icriodontid conodonts belonging to the species Caudicriodus woschmidti, providing new information on the apparatus structure of icriodontid conodonts, is described from the Lower Devonian sediments in southern Burgenland (Austria) by Suttner, Kido & Briguglio (2018).[65]

A study on the species belonging to the genus Neognathodus, evaluating whether previously defined morphotype groups are reliably distinct from one another, is published by Zimmerman, Johnson & Polly (2018).[66]

A member of the family Gondolellidae. The type species is M. salomae; genus also includes new species M. alexanderi, M. cyri, M. julii and M. nebuchadnezzari, as well as "Neogondolella" regale Mosher (1970) and "Neogondolella" dilacerata Golding & Orchard (2016).

Evidence from multi-stable isotope data indicating that some Devonian vertebrates, including early tetrapods, were euryhaline and inhabited aquatic environments subject to rapid changes in salinity is presented by Goedert et al. (2018).[87]

A study on the evolution of forelimb musculature from the lobe-finned fish to early tetrapods is published by Molnar et al. (2018).[88]

A study on the fossil record of amphibians, aiming to identify traits that influenced the extinction risk of species, and using this data to predict the extinction risk for living amphibian species, is published by Tietje & Rödel (2018).[90]

A study on the morphological changes in the skull that have been considered related to size reduction in dissorophoids, evaluating whether these changes are consistent with the consequences of miniaturization according to the studies in extant miniature amphibians, is published by Pérez-Ben, Schoch & Báez (2018).[94]

A study on the phylogenetic relationships of dissorophoid temnospondyls, and on their relationship to modern amphibians, is published by Schoch (2018), who names new taxon Amphibamiformes.[95]

New skull remains of Cacops morrisi, as well as the first known postcranial remains of the taxon, are described from the Permian of the Richards Spur locality (Oklahoma, United States) by Gee & Reisz (2018).[99]

A study on the morphology and phylogenetic relationships of Limnogyrinus elegans is published by Schoch & Witzmann (2018).[101]

A study on the anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of Parotosuchus nasutus is published by Schoch (2018).[102]

A study on the morphology of specimens of Rhytidosteus from southeastern European Russia, and on their implications for inferring possible feeding adaptations of this animal, is published by Sennikov & Novikov (2018).[103]

A study on the histology of the humeri of members of the species Metoposaurus krasiejowensis, revealing the occurrence of two different growth patterns (histotypes), is published by Teschner, Sander & Konietzko-Meier (2018).[106]

A study on the feeding mode of Metoposaurus krasiejowensis as indicated by bone microstructure and computational biomechanics is published by Konietzko-Meier et al. (2018).[107]

Description of the ornamentation of clavicles and skull bones of Metoposaurus krasiejowensis is published by Antczak & Bodzioch (2018).[108]

Redescription of Regalerpeton weichangensis based on eight new specimens and a study on the phylogenetic relationships of the species is published by Rong (2018).[109]

A redescription and a study of the phylogenetic relationships of Baurubatrachus pricei is published by Báez & Gómez (2018).[115]

A redescription and a study of the phylogenetic relationships of Eorubeta nevadensis is published by Henrici et al. (2018).[116]

Description of new fossil material of Thaumastosaurus from three localities in Switzerland, and a revision of the stratigraphic records of the genus Thaumastosaurus and other ranoid fossils from the Eocene of Europe, is published by Vasilyan (2018).[117]

A study on the skull morphology of Enosuchus breviceps is published by Bulanov & Golubev (2018).[118]

Description of the anatomy of the skeleton of the chroniosuchian species Bystrowiella schumanni and a study on the phylogenetic relationships of chroniosuchians is published by Witzmann & Schoch (2018).[121]

A study on the variation of digit proportions and trackway parameters in diadectomorph tracks with a relatively short pedal digit V, representing ichnogenusIchniotherium, is published by Buchwitz & Voight (2018).[122]

A study on the stable oxygen and carbon isotope compositions of dentineapatite in the teeth of twenty-eight specimens of Diictodon feliceps, and on their implications for inferring the potential role of climate in driving the late Capitanian mass extinction of terrestrial tetrapods, is published by Rey et al. (2018).[141]

Description of the anatomy of six new skulls of the dicynodontAbajudon kaayai from the Permian (Guadalupian) lower Madumabisa Mudstone Formation (Zambia) and a study on the phylogenetic relationships of the species is published by Olroyd, Sidor & Angielczyk (2018).[142]

Redescription of the dicynodont genus Sangusaurus and a study on its feeding system and phylogenetic relationships is published by Angielczyk, Hancox & Nabavizadeh (2018).[144]

Partial hindlimb of a dicynodont nearing the size of Stahleckeria potens is described from the Triassic Lifua Member of the Manda Beds (Tanzania) by Kammerer, Angielczyk & Nesbitt (2018), representing the largest dicynodont postcranial element from the Manda Beds reported so far.[145]

Partial skull and postcranial skeleton of a member of the species Cricodon metabolus is described from the Triassic Ntawere Formation (Zambia) by Sidor & Hopson (2018), who also study the phylogenetic relationships of members of the family Trirachodontidae.[153]

A study on the musculature, posture and range of motion of the forelimb of Massetognathus pascuali is published by Lai, Biewener & Pierce (2018).[154]

A study on the evolution of the mammalian jaw is published by Lautenschlager et al. (2018), who find no evidence for a concurrent reduction in jaw-joint stress and increase in bite force in key non-mammaliaform taxa in the cynodont–mammaliaform transition.[162]

A study on the morphological diversity of vertebral regions in non-mammalian synapsids, and on its implication for elucidating the evolution of anatomically distinct regions of the mammalian spines, is published by Jones et al. (2018).[164]

A study on teeth ontogeny in wide range of extinct synapsid lineages is published by LeBlanc et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicating that the ligamentous tooth attachment system is not unique to crown mammals within Synapsida.[165]

A study on the phylogenetic relationships of the rangeomorphs is published by Dececchi et al. (2018).[175]

A study on the size distribution and morphological features of a population of juvenile specimens of Dickinsonia costata from the Crisp Gorge fossil locality in the Flinders Ranges (Australia) is published by Reid, García-Bellido & Gehling (2018).[176]

A study on the phylogenetic relationships of Dickinsonia based on data from lipidbiomarkers extracted from organically preserved Ediacaran macrofossils is published by Bobrovskiy et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicating that Dickinsonia was an animal.[177]

A study on the anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of Stromatoveris, based on data from new specimens from the Chengjiang Konservat‐Lagerstätte (China), is published by Hoyal Cuthill & Han (2018), who interpret Stromatoveris as a member of early animal group Petalonamae that also included Arborea, Pambikalbae, rangeomorphs, dickinsoniomorphs and erniettomorphs.[178]

The first reliable occurrence of abundant penetrative trace fossils, providing trace fossil evidence for Precambrianbilaterians with complex behavioural patterns, is reported from the latest Ediacaran of western Mongolia by Oji et al. (2018).[179]

New trace fossils from the Ediacaran Shibantan Member of the upper Dengying Formation (China), including burrows and possible trackways which were probably made by millimeter-sized animals with bilateral appendages, are described by Chen et al. (2018).[181]

New, three-dimensional specimens of Charniodiscus arboreus (Arborea arborea), allowing for a detailed reinterpretation of its functional morphology and taxonomy, are described from the Ediacara Member, Rawnsley Quartzite of South Australia by Laflamme, Gehling & Droser (2018).[183]

A study on Namacalathus and Cloudina skeletons from the Ediacaran Omkyk Member of the Nama Group (Namibia) is published by Pruss et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicating that both organisms originally produced aragonitic skeletons, which later underwent diagenetic conversion to calcite.[185]

A study on the substrate growth dynamics, mode of biomineralization and possible affinities of Namapoikia rietoogensis is published by Wood & Penny (2018).[186]

A review of evidence for existence of swimming animals during the Neoproterozoic is published by Gold (2018).[187]

A study on the nature and biological affinity of the Cambrian taxon Archaeooides is published by Yin et al. (2018), who interpret the fossils of Archaeooides as embryonic remains of animals.[190]

Zumberge et al. (2018) report a new fossil steranebiomarker, possessing a rare hydrocarbon skeleton that is uniquely found within extant demosponge taxa, from late Neoproterozoic–Cambrian sedimentary rocks and oils, and interpret this finding as indicating that demosponges, and hence multicellular animals, were prominent in some late Neoproterozoic marine environments at least extending back to the Cryogenian period.[191]

Diverse, abundant sponge fossils from the Ordovician–Silurian boundary interval are reported from seven localities in South China by Botting et al. (2018), who produce a model for the distribution and preservation of the sponge fauna.[192]

A study on the phylogenetic relationships of extant and fossil demosponges is published by Schuster et al. (2018).[193]

A study on the slab with a dense aggregation of members of the species Banffia constricta recovered from the Cambrian Burgess Shale (Canada) and its implications for life habits of the animal is published by Chambers & Brandt (2018).[197]

A study on the morphology and phylogenetic affinities of Yuyuanozoon magnificissimi, based on new specimens, is published by Li et al. (2018).[198]

A study on the fossil record of early Paleozoicgraptoloids and on the factors influencing rates of diversification within this group is published by Foote et al. (2018).[199]

A study on the impact of the long-period astronomical cycles (Milankovitch “grand cycles”) associated with Earth's orbital eccentricity and obliquity on the variance in species turnover probability (extinction probability plus speciation probability) in Early Paleozoic graptoloids is published by Crampton et al. (2018).[200]

A study reinterpreting the putative Cambrian lobopodianMureropodia apae as a partial isolated appendage of a member of the genus Caryosyntrips, published by Pates & Daley (2017)[206] is criticized by Gámez Vintaned & Zhuravlev (2018);[207] Pates, Daley & Ortega-Hernández (2018) defend their original conclusions.[208]

A study on the evolution of ecdysozoan vision, focusing on the evolution of arthropod multi-opsin vision, as indicated by molecular data and data from fossil record, is published by Fleming et al. (2018).[210]

The presence of metameric midgut diverticulae is reported for the first time in the stem-arthropodFuxianhuia protensa by Ortega-Hernández et al. (2018), who interpret their finding as indicative of a predatory or scavenging ecology of fuxianhuiids.[215]

Liu et al. (2018) reinterpret putative remains of the nervous and cardiovascular systems in numerous articulated individuals of Fuxianhuia protensa as more likely to be microbial biofilms that developed following decomposition of the intestine, muscle and other connective tissues.[216]

A study on the post-embryonic development of Fuxianhuia protensa is published by Fu et al. (2018).[217]

A study on the morphology of the hyolithidParamicrocornus zhenbaensis from the lower Cambrian Shuijingtuo Formation (China) is published by Zhang, Skovsted & Zhang (2018), who report that this species lacked helens, and also report the oldest known hyolith muscle scars preserved on the opercula of this species.[222]

A study on the feeding strategies and locomotion of Cambrian hyolithids, based on specimens preserved in coprolites from the Chengjiang biota and associated with a Tuzoia carcass from the Balang Fauna (China), is published by Sun et al. (2018).[223]

A study evaluating how different species of fossil and extant free-living cupuladriid bryozoans responded to the environmental changes in the Southwest Caribbean over the last 6 million years is published by O’Dea et al. (2018).[230]

A member of Radiodonta belonging to the group Hurdiidae. The type species is S. hirpex. The original description of the taxon appeared in an online supplement to the article published by Caron et al. (2010),[279] making in invalid until it was validated by Pates, Daley & Ortega-Hernández (2018).[207][208]

A study on the responses of two species of foraminifera (extant Truncorotalia crassaformis and extinct Globoconella puncticulata) to climate change during the late Pliocene to earliest Pleistocene intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation (3.6–2.4 million years ago) is published by Brombacher et al. (2018).[287]

A member of Globigerinoidea belonging to the family Globigerinidae. The type species is "Globigerina" ciperoensis Bolli (1954); genus also includes "Globigerina" anguliofficinalis Blow (1969), "Globigerina ciperoensis" angulisuturalis Bolli (1957) (raised to the rank of the species Ciperoella angulisuturalis) and "Globigerina" fariasi Bermúdez (1961).

A study on putative stromatolites described from the 3,700-Myr-old rocks from the Isua supracrustal belt (Greenland) by Nutman et al. (2016)[318] is published by Allwood et al. (2018), who interpret these putative stromatolites as more likely to be structures of non-biological origin.[319]

Carbon isotope analyses of 11 microbial fossils from the ∼3,465-million-year-old Apex chert (Australia) are published by Schopf et al. (2018), who interpret two of the five studied species as primitive photosynthesizers, one as an Archaealmethane producer, and two as methane consumers.[320]

Carbonaceous microstructures interpreted as evidence of early life are described from the ≈3,472-million-year-old Middle Marker horizon, Barberton Greenstone Belt (South Africa) by Hickman-Lewis et al. (2018).[321]

Direct fossil evidence for life on land 3,220 million years ago in the form of terrestrial microbial mats is reported from the Moodies Group (South Africa) by Homann et al. (2018).[322]

Ten representative types of exceptionally well‐preserved mat‐related structures, interpreted as likely to be of biological origin and including putative microbial mats and discoidal microbial colonies, are reported from the 2.1‐billion‐year‐old Francevillian series in Gabon by Aubineau et al. (2018).[324]

A study on the chemical, isotopic and molecular structural characteristics of the putative multicellulareukaryote fossils from carbonaceous compressions in the 1.63 billion years old Tuanshanzi Formation (China) is published by Qu et al. (2018).[325]

Intact porphyrins, the molecular fossils of chlorophylls, are described from 1,100-million-year-old marine black shales of the Taoudeni Basin (Mauritania) by Gueneli et al. (2018), who also study the nitrogen isotopic values of the fossil pigments, and interpret their findings as indicating that the oceans of that time were dominated by cyanobacteria, while larger planktonicalgae were scarce.[326]

A study on the evolutionary history of bacteria is published by Louca et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicating that most bacterial lineages ever to have inhabited Earth are extinct.[327]

A reassessment of the anatomy and taxonomy of Orbisiana, based on a restudy of the rediscovered original type material of O. simplex, is published by Kolesnikov et al. (2018).[331]

A study on the positions of fossil specimens in the assemblages of Ediacaran fossils from Mistaken Point (Canada), as well as on their implications for inferring the interactions and associations between the Ediacaran organisms, is published by Mitchell & Butterfield (2018).[332]

A study on the height of Ediacaran organisms from Mistaken Point, evaluating the link between the increase of height and resource competition or greater offspring dispersal, is published by Mitchell & Kenchington (2018).[333]

Evidence of a radiation of the Ediacaran biota that witnessed the emergence and widespread implementation of novel, animal-style ecologies is presented by Tarhan et al. (2018), who argue that this transition was linked to the expansion of Ediacaran taxa into dynamic, shallow marine environments characterized by episodic disturbance and complex and diverse organically-bound substrates, and propose that younger, second-wave Ediacaran communities resulting from said radiation were part of an ecological and evolutionary continuum with Phanerozoic ecosystems.[334]

Elliptical body fossils are described from the Ediacaran–Fortunian deposits of central Brittany (France) by Néraudeau et al. (2018), representing the first body fossils described from these deposits.[335]

A study on the sandstone- and limestone-hosted occurrences of Palaeopascichnus linearis (including material from a new locality in Arctic Siberia), indicative of a greater range of taxonomic and taphonomic variation, is published by Kolesnikov et al. (2018).[336]

Description of fossils of nonmarine diatoms belonging to the genus Actinocyclus from the Lower to Middle Miocene lacustrine deposits in Japan and a study on the possible causal links between the evolution of nonmarine planktonic diatoms and the climatic and environmental changes that occurred during the Miocene is published by Hayashi et al. (2018).[340]

A study on the cell-size frequency distributions across calcareous nanoplankton communities through the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, on their population biomass and on the impact of climate change on their cellular characteristics is published by Gibbs et al. (2018).[341]

A large ornamented acritarch of unresolved biological affinity, probably an ontogenetically and metabolically active eukaryotic organism rather than a dormant protistan cyst. Genus includes new species L. grandis.

Research related to paleontology that either does not concern any of the groups of the organisms listed above, or concerns multiple groups.

A study on the geologic record of Milankovitch climate cycles, extending their analysis into the Proterozoic and aiming to reconstruct the history of solar system characteristics, is published by Meyers & Malinverno (2018).[368]

A study testing the hypothesis that chemodenitrification, the rapid reduction of nitric oxide by ferrous iron, would have enhanced the flux of nitrous oxide from Proterozoic seas, leading to nitrous oxide becoming an important constituent of Earth's atmosphere during Proterozoic and possibly life's primary terminal electron acceptor during the transition from an anoxic to oxic surface Earth, is published by Stanton et al. (2018).[369]

A study on the effect of different forms of primitive photosynthesis on Earth's early atmospheric chemistry and climate is published by Ozaki et al. (2018).[370]

A study on the history of life on Earth is published by McMahon & Parnell (2018), who argue that the subsurface “deep biosphere” outweighed the surface biosphere by about one order of magnitude for at least half of the history of life.[371]

A timescale of life on Earth, based on a reappraisal of the fossil material and new molecular clock analyses, is presented by Betts et al. (2018).[372]

A study on the nitrogen isotope ratios, selenium abundances, and selenium isotope ratios from the ∼2.66 billion years old Jeerinah Formation (Australia), providing evidence of transient surface ocean oxygenation ∼260 million years before the Great Oxygenation Event, is published by Koehler et al. (2018).[373]

A study on functional shifts in modern phototrophicmicrobial mats across redox gradients, and on its implications for inferring the metabolic transitions experienced during the Great Oxygenation Event, is published by Gutiérrez-Preciado et al. (2018).[374]

A study on the iron mineralogy of the 1.1-billion-year-old Paleolake Nonesuch (Nonesuch Formation), and on its implications for inferring whether the waters of this lake were oxygenated, is published by Slotznick, Swanson-Hysell & Sperling (2018).[377]

A study on the abundance of bio-essential trace elements during the period in Earth's history known as the "Boring Billion" is published by Mukherjee et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as incidacting that key biological innovations in eukaryote evolution (the appearance of first eukaryotes, the acquisition of certain cell organelles, the origin of multicellularity and the origin of sexual reproduction) probably occurred during the period of a scarcity of trace elements, followed by a broad-scale diversification of eukaryotes during the period of a relative abundance of trace elements.[378]

A study on the ocean chemistry at the start of the Mesoproterozoic as indicated by rare earth element, iron-speciation and inorganic carbon isotope data from the 1,600–1,550 million years old Yanliao Basin, North China Craton is published by Zhang et al. (2018), who report evidence of a progressive oxygenation event starting at ≈1,570 million years ago, immediately prior to the occurrence of complex multicellular eukaryotes in shelf areas of the Yanliao Basin.[379]

A study on the Earth's atmosphere and the productivity of global biosphere 1.4 billion years ago, based on triple oxygen isotope measurements sedimentary sulfates from the Sibley basin (Ontario, Canada), is published by Crockford et al. (2018).[381]

A study on the isotopically enriched chromium in Mesoproterozoic-aged shales from the Shennongjia Group (China) dating back to 1.35 billion years ago is published by Canfieldet al. (2018), who interpret their findings as document elevated atmospheric oxygen levels through most of Mesoproterozoic Era, likely sufficient for early crown group animal respiration, but attained over 400 million years before they evolved.[382]

A study on the timing of the onset of the Sturtian glaciation, based on new stratigraphic and geochronological data from the upper Tambien Group (Ethiopia), is published by Scott MacLennan et al. (2018).[384]

A study on wave ripples and tidal laminae in the Elatina Formation (Australia), interpreted as evidence of rapid sea level rise in the aftermath of the Marinoan glaciation, is published by Myrow, Lamb & Ewing (2018).[386]

A study on the environments and food sources that sustained the Ediacaran biota is published by Pehr et al. (2018), who present the lipid biomarker and nitrogen and carbon isotopic data obtained from late Ediacaran (<560 million years old) strata from seven drill cores and three outcrops spanning Baltica.[388]

A study on the Ediacaran ecosystem complexity is published by Darroch, Laflamme & Wagner (2018), who report evidence of the Ediacara biota forming complex-type communities throughout much of their stratigraphic range, and thus likely comprising species that competed for different resources and/or created niche for others.[389]

A study evaluating how temperature can govern oxygen supply to animals at oceanographic scales, as well as how temperature dynamically affects the absolute tolerance of partial pressure of oxygen in marine ectotherms, and re-examining bathymetric patterns within the Ediacaran fossil record in an ecophysiological context, is published by Boag et al. (2018).[391]

A study investigating possible water columnredox controls on the distribution and growth of the oldest animal communities, based on data from the Ediacaran Nama Group (Namibia), is published by Woodet al. (2018).[392]

New uranium isotope data from upper Ediacaran to lower Cambrian marine carbonate successions, indicative of short-lived episodes of widespread marine anoxia near the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition and during Cambrian Stage 2, is presented by Wei et al. (2018), who argue that the Cambrian explosion might have been triggered by marine redox fluctuations rather than progressive oxygenation.[393]

New δ15N data from late Ediacaran to Cambrian strata from South China is presented by Wang et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicating that ocean redox dynamics were closely coupled with key evolutionary events during the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition.[394]

A study on the evolution of the diversity of animal body plans, based on data from extant and Cambrian animals, is published by Deline et al. (2018).[395]

A review of the evidence for shell crushing (durophagy), drilling and puncturing predation in the Cambrian (and possibly the Ediacaran) is published by Bicknell & Paterson (2018).[396]

A study on the timing and process of ocean oxygenation in the early Cambrian and its impact on the diversification of early Cambrian animals, based on data from the Cambrian Niutitang Formation (China), is published by Zhao et al. (2018).[397]

Gougeon et al. (2018) report evidence from the Lower Cambrian Chapel Island Formation (Canada) indicating that a mixed layer of sediment, of similar structure to that of modern marine sediments (which results from bioturbation by epifaunal and shallow infaunal organisms), was well established in shallow marine settings by the early Cambrian.[399]

A study on the effects of the rise of bioturbation on global elemental cycles during the Cambrian is published by van de Velde et al. (2018).[400]

A study on the impact of the disruption of sediments caused by Fortunian bioturbation on the ocean chemistry, as indicated by data from the Chapel Island Formation (Canada), is published by Hantsoo et al. (2018).[401]

A study on the oxygen isotope composition of seawater throughout the Phanerozoic is published by Ryb & Eiler (2018).[403]

A study on changes in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide throughout the Phanerozoic, as indicated by data from a product of chlorophyll – phytane from marine sediments and oils, is published by Witkowski et al. (2018).[404]

A study on the evolution of marine animal communities over the Phanerozoic, evaluating the ecological changes caused by major radiations and mass extinctions, is published by Muscente et al. (2018).[405]

A study on the impact of mass extinctions on the global biogeographical structure, as indicated by data on time-traceable bioregions for benthic marine species across the Phanerozoic, is published by Kocsis, Reddin & Kiessling (2018).[406]

A study analyzing the link between net latitudinal range shifts of marine invertebrates and seawater temperature over the (post-Cambrian) Phanerozoic Eon is published by Reddin, Kocsis & Kiessling (2018).[408]

A study evaluating the link between macroevolutionary success (evolving many species) and macroecological success (the occupation of an unusually high number of areas by a species or clade) in fossil echinoid, cephalopod, bivalve, gastropod, brachiopod and trilobite species is published by Wagner, Plotnick & Lyons (2018).[409]

A revised model and a new high-resolution reconstruction of the oxygenation of the Paleozoic atmosphere is presented by Krause et al. (2018).[410]

A study on the Early Ordovician climate, as indicated by new high-resolution phosphate oxygen isotope record of conodont assemblages from the Lange Ranch section of central Texas, is published by Quinton et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as consistent with very warm temperatures during the Early Ordovician.[411]

Jin, Zhan & Wu (2018) present paleontological, sedimentological, and geochemical data to test a hypothesis that a cold surface current became established by the late Middle Ordovician in the equatorial peri-Gondwana oceans, similar to the eastern equatorial Pacific cold tongue today.[412]

A study on the ocean redox conditions and climate change across a Late Ordovician to Early Silurian on the Yangtze Shelf Sea (China) and their implications for inferring the causes of the Late Ordovician mass extinction is published by Zou et al. (2018).[416]

Evidence of multiple mercury enrichments in the two-step late Frasnian crisis interval from paleogeographically distant successions in Morocco, Germany and northern Russia is presented by Racki et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicating that the Late Devonian extinction was caused by rapid climatic perturbations promoted in turn by volcanic cataclysm.[420]

A study on the age of a bentonite layer from Bed 36 in the Frasnian–Famennian succession at the abandoned Steinbruch Schmidt Quarry (Germany), aiming to determine the precise age of the Frasnian–Famennian boundary and the precise timing of the Late Devonian extinction, is published by Percival et al. (2018).[422]

A study on the patterns of dispersal and vicariance of tetrapods across Pangaea during the Carboniferous and Permian is published by Brocklehurst et al. (2018).[425]

O’Connor et al. (2018) reconstruct the most likely karyotype of the diapsidcommon ancestor based on data from extant reptiles and birds, and argue that most features of a typical ‘avian-like’ karyotype were in place before the divergence of birds and turtles ≈255 million years ago.[426]

A study evaluating whether the fossil record supports the reality of the Permian Olson's Extinction, based on an analysis of the tetrapod species richness in the tetrapod-bearing formations of Texas preserving fossils from the time of the extinction, is published by Brocklehurst (2018).[427]

A study on the patterns of species richness, origination rates and extinction rates of the mid-Permian tetrapods from South Africa is published by Day et al. (2018).[428]

A study on the environmental changes and faunal turnover in the Karoo Basin (South Africa) during the late Permian is published by Viglietti, Smith & Rubidge (2018).[429]

A study on the changes of distribution of terrestrial tetrapods from the Permian (Guadalupian) to the Middle Triassic and on the impact of the Permian–Triassic extinction event on the palaeobiogeography of terrestrial tetrapods is published by Bernardi, Petti & Benton (2018).[430]

A study on the impact of sulfur and carbon outgassing from the Siberian Traps flood basalt magmatism on the climate changes at the end of the Permian is published by Black et al. (2018).[433]

Evidence of enhanced continental chemical weathering at the Permian–Triassic boundary is reported from bulk rock samples from the Meishan section in South China by Sun et al. (2018), who also evaluate the potential impact of this enhanced weathering on global climate changes when the end-Permian extinction occurred.[434]

A study on the biogeographic patterns and severity of extinction of marine taxa during the Permian–Triassic extinction event, evaluating whether global warming and ocean oxygen loss can mechanistically account for the marine mass extinction, is published by Penn et al. (2018).[435]

A study on the recovery of benthic invertebrates following the Permian–Triassic extinction event, based on analysis of changes in the species richness, functional richness, evenness, composition, and ecological complexity of benthic marine communities from the Lower TriassicServino Formation (Italy), is published by Foster et al. (2018).[436]

A study on microbial mounds from the Lower Triassic Feixianguan Formation (China), and their implications for inferring the course of biotic recovery after the Permian–Triassic extinction event, is published by Duan et al. (2018).[437]

A study on the timing and pattern of ecosystem succession during and after the Permian–Triassic extinction event for the duration of the entire Triassic, as indicated by the changing diversity among non-motile, motile and nektonic animals, is published by Song, Wignall & Dunhill (2018).[438]

Evidence of multiple episodes of oceanic anoxia in the Early Triassic, based on U-isotope data from carbonates of the uppermost Permian to lowermost Middle Triassic Zal section (Iran), is presented by Zhang et al. (2018).[439]

Marine faunas characterized by unusually high levels of both benthic and nektonic taxonomic richness are described from two Early Triassic sections from South China by Dai et al. (2018).[440]

A study on the historical shifts in geographical ranges and climatic niches of terrestrial vertebrates (both endotherms and ectotherms) based on data from extant and fossil vertebrates is published by Rolland et al. (2018).[441]

A study on the stratigraphic distribution of the marine vertebrate fossils of the Xingyi Fauna from the Middle TriassicFalang Formation (China) is published by Lu et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicating that the Xingyi Fauna comprises two distinct vertebrate assemblages, resulting from a major faunal change, which was probably caused by a turnover of their ecological setting from nearshore to offshore.[442]

A study on changes in global bottom water oxygen contents over the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event, based on thallium isotope records from two ocean basins, is published by Them et al. (2018), who report evidence of global marine deoxygenation of ocean water some 600,000 years before the classically defined Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event.[447]

A study on the extinction selectivity of marine organisms through the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic, evaluating whether there are any substantial differences between the hyperthermal events during the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event and Toarcian turnover and the periods of normal background extinction, is published by Dunhill et al. (2018).[448]

A study evaluating how the structure of marine reptile ecosystems and their ecologies changed over the roughly 18-million-year history of the Jurassic Sub-Boreal Seaway of the United Kingdom, as indicated by data from fossil teeth, is published by Foffa et al. (2018).[453]

A study on the taphonomic properties of the inclusions contained in the Las Hoyas coprolites, and their implications for inferring the patterns of digestive processes of the producers of these coprolites, is published by Barrios-de Pedro & Buscalioni (2018).[457]

Description of isocrinidcrinoids belonging to the genus Isocrinus from the Cretaceous amber from Myanmar is published by Mao et al. (2018), who also report coral columnals and oysters from the amber from Myanmar, and evaluate the age of this amber.[461]

A study on the terrestrial climate in northern China at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, indicating the occurrence of a warming caused by the onset of Deccan Traps volcanism and the occurrence of extinctions prior to the Chicxulub impact, is published by Zhang et al. (2018).[466]

A study on the oxygen isotopic composition of fish debris from the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary at El Kef (Tunisia), indicative of a greenhouse warming in the aftermath of the Chicxulub impact, is published by MacLeod et al. (2018).[467]

A study on the environmental changes during the global warming following the brief impact winter at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, based on geochemical, micropaleontological and palynological data from Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary sections in Texas, Denmark and Spain, is published by Vellekoop et al. (2018).[468]

A record of foraminifera, calcareous nannoplankton, trace fossils and elemental abundance data from within the Chicxulub crater, dated to approximately the first 200,000 years of the Paleocene, is presented by Lowery et al. (2018), who report evidence indicating that life reappeared in the basin just years after the Chicxulub impact and a high-productivity ecosystem was established within 30,000 years.[469]

A study evaluating the utility of oxygen-isotope compositions of fossilised foraminifera tests as proxies for surface- and deep-ocean paleotemperatures, and its implications for inferring Late Cretaceous and Paleogene deep-ocean and high-latitude surface-ocean temperatures, published by Bernard et al. (2017)[470] is criticized by Evans et al. (2018).[471][472]

A study on the Paleocene intermediate- and deep-water neodymium-isotope records from the North and South Atlantic Ocean, and on their implications for inferring the impact of changes in overturning circulation caused by the opening of the Atlantic Ocean on climate changes culminating in the greenhouse conditions of the Eocene, is published by Batenburg et al. (2018).[473]

Nitrogen isotope data from deposits from the northeast margin of the Tethys Ocean, spanning the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, is presented by Junium, Dickson & Uveges (2018), who interpret their findings as indicating that dramatic change in the nitrogen cycle occurred during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum.[475]

A study on the magnetofossil concentrations preserved within sediments corresponding to the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, as well as on the implications of magnetofossil abundance and morphology signatures for tracing palaeo-environmental conditions during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, is published by Chang et al. (2018).[476]

A study aiming to evaluate the global extent of surface ocean acidification during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum is published by Babila et al. (2018).[477]

A study on the continental silicateweathering response to the inferred CO2 rise and warming during the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum is published by van der Ploeg et al. (2018).[483]

A study on the early stages of development of Asian inland aridity and its underlying mechanisms, based on data from red clay sequence from the Cenozoic Xorkol Basin (Altyn-Tagh, northeastern Tibetan Plateau), is published by Li et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicating that enhanced Eocene Asian inland aridity was mainly driven by global palaeoclimatic changes rather than being a direct response to the plateau uplift.[484]

A study on the relationship between the Rovno and Baltic amber deposits, based on stable carbon and hydrogen isotope analyses, is published by Mänd et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicative of distinct origin of Rovno and Baltic amber deposits.[485]

A study on CO2 concentrations during the early Miocene, as indicated by stomatal characteristics of fossil leaves from a late early Miocene assemblage from Panama and a leaf gas‐exchange model, is published by Londoño et al. (2018).[488]

A study aiming to establish an accurate and precise age model for the eruption of the Columbia River Basalt Group, and to use it to test the hypothesis that there is a temporal relationship between the eruption of the Columbia River Basalt Group and the mid-Miocene climate optimum, is published by Kasbohm & Schoene (2018).[489]

A study on plant fossils spanning 14–4 million years ago from sites in Europe, Asia and East Africa, aiming to test the hypothesis of a single cohesive biome in the Miocene that extended from Mongolia to East Africa and at its peak covered much of the Old World, is published by Denk et al. (2018), who interpret data from plant fossil record as disproving the existence of a cohesive savannah biome from eastern Asia to northeast Africa, formerly inferred from mammal fossil record.[491]

Faith (2018) evaluates the aridity index, a widely used technique for reconstructing local paleoclimate and water deficits from oxygen isotope composition of fossil mammal teeth, arguing that in some taxa altered drinking behavior (influencing oxygen isotope composition of teeth) might have been caused by dietary change rather than water deficits.[492][493][494]

An extensive, buried sedimentary body deposited by the passage of a megaflood from the western to the eastern Mediterranean Sea in the Pliocene (Zanclean), at the end of the Messinian salinity crisis, is identified in the western Ionian Basin by Micallef et al. (2018).[496]

A study evaluating when the island of Sulawesi (Indonesia) gained its modern shape and size, and determining the timings of diversification of the three largest endemic mammals on the island (the babirusa, the Celebes warty pig and the anoa) is published by Frantz et al. (2018).[497]

A study on the hydrological changes in the Limpopo Rivercatchment and in sea surface temperature in the southwestern Indian Ocean for the past 2.14 million years, and on their implications for inferring the palaeoclimatic changes in southeastern Africa in this time period and their possible impact on the evolution of early hominins, is published by Caley et al. (2018).[498]

A study on the reptile and amphibian fossils from the early Pleistocene site of the Russel-Tiglia-Egypte pit near Tegelen (Netherlands) is published by Villa et al. (2018).[499]

Evidence indicating that reduced nutrientupwelling in the Bering Sea and expansion of North Pacific Intermediate Water coincided with the Mid-Pleistocene Transition cooling is presented by Kender et al. (2018), who assess the potential links between cooling, sea ice expansion, closure of the Bering Strait, North Pacific Intermediate Water production, reduced high latitude CO2 and nutrient upwelling, and development of the Mid-Pleistocene Transition.[500]

Description of new mammal and fish remains from the Olduvai Gorge site (Tanzania), comparing the mammal assemblage from this site to the present mammal community of Serengeti, and a study on their implications for reconstructing the paleoecology of this site at ∼1.7–1.4 million years ago, is published by Bibi et al. (2018).[502]

A study evaluating whether changes of vegetation and diet of East African herbivorous mammals were linked to climatic fluctuations 1.7 million years ago, based on data from mammal teeth from the Olduvai Gorge site, as well as evaluating whether crocodile teeth from this site may be used as paleoclimatic indicators, is published by Ascari et al. (2018).[503]

A study on the structure of the animal community known from the Okote Member of the Koobi Fora Formation at East Turkana (Kenya) as indicated by tracks and skeletal assemblages, and on the interactions of Homo erectus with environment and associated faunas from this site, is published by Roach et al. (2018).[504]

Evidence for progressive aridification in East Africa since about 575,000 years before present, based on data from sediments from Lake Magadi (Kenya), is presented by Owen et al. (2018), who also evaluate the influence of the increasing Middle- to Late-Pleistocene aridification and environmental variability on the physical and cultural evolution of Homo sapiens in East Africa.[505]

A study on the environment in the interior of the Arabian Peninsula in the Pleistocene, as indicated by data from stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis of fossil mammal tooth enamel from the middle Pleistocene locality of Ti's al Ghadah (Saudi Arabia), is published by Roberts et al. (2018).[506]

A study on the environmental dynamics before and after the onset of the early Middle Stone Age in the Olorgesailie Basin (Kenya) is published by Potts et al. (2018).[507]

A study on the chronology of the Acheulean and early Middle Stone Age sedimentary deposits in the Olorgesailie Basin (Kenya) is published by Deino et al. (2018).[508]

A study on the climatic changes in the Lake Tana area in the last 150,000 years and their implications for early modern human dispersal out of Africa is published by Lamb et al. (2018).[509]

A study on the proxy evidence for environmental changes during past 116,000 years in lake sediment cores from the Chew Bahir basin, south Ethiopia (close to the key hominin site of Omo Kibish), and on its implications for inferring the environmental context for dispersal of anatomically modern humans from northeastern Africa, is published by Viehberg et al. (2018).[510]

A high-resolution palaeoclimate reconstruction for the Eemian from northern Finland, based on pollen and plant macrofossil record, is presented by Salonen et al. (2018).[512]

A study on the extent and nature of millennial/centennial-scale climate instability during the Last Interglacial (129–116 thousand years ago), as indicated by data from joint pollen and ocean proxy analyses in a deep-sea core on the Portuguese Margin (Atlantic Ocean) and speleothem record from Antro del Corchia cave system (Italy), is published by Tzedakis et al. (2018).[513]

A study on the environmental conditions in the area of present-day Basque Country (Spain) across the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition, based on stable isotope data from red deer and horse bones, is published by Jones et al. (2018).[514]

A study on the timing and duration of periods of climate deterioration in the interior of the Iberian Peninsula in the late Pleistocene, evaluating the impact of climate on the abandonment of inner Iberian territories by Neanderthals 42,000 years ago, is published by Wolf et al. (2018).[515]

Evidence of bird and carnivore exploitation by Neanderthals (cut-marks in golden eagle, raven, wolf and lynx remains) is reported from the Axlor site (Spain) by Gómez-Olivencia et al. (2018).[516]

A study on the climate changes in Europe during the Middle–Upper Paleolithic transition (based on speleothem records from the Ascunsă Cave and from the Tăușoare Cave, Romania), and on their implications for the replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans in Europe, is published by Fernández et al. (2018).[517]

The first reconstructions of terrestrial temperature and hydrologic changes in the south-central margin of the Bering land bridge from the Last Glacial Maximum to the present are presented by Wooller et al. (2018).[518]

A study on the timing of the latest Pleistocene glaciation in southeastern Alaska and its implication for inferring the route and timing of early human migration to the Americas is published by Lesnek et al. (2018).[519]

Quantitative estimates of climate in western North America over the past 50,000 years, based on data from plant community composition of more than 600 individual paleomiddens, are presented by Harbert & Nixon (2018).[520]

A study on the compositions of the faunal and stone artifact assemblages at Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia), aiming to determine the last appearance dates of Stegodon, giant marabou stork, Old World vulture belonging to the genus Trigonoceps, and Komodo dragon at the Liang Bua site, and to determine what raw materials were preferred by hominins from this site ∼50,000–13,000 years ago and whether these are preferences were similar to those seen in the stone artifact assemblages attributed to Homo floresiensis or to those attributed to modern humans, is published by Sutikna et al. (2018).[521]

A study on the fossil Sporormiella, pollen and microscopic particles of charcoal recovered from sediments of Lake Mares and Lake Olhos d’Agua (Brazil) which spanned the time of megafaunal extinction and human arrival in southeastern Brazil, and on their implications for inferring the timing of the decline of local megafauna and its ecological implications, is published by Raczka, Bush & De Oliveira (2018).[522]

A study evaluating whether the occurrence and decline of spores of Sporormiella in sediments is a good proxy for the occurrence and extinction of megaherbivores, as indicated by data from Cuddie Springs in south‐eastern Australia, is published by Dodson & Field (2018).[523]

A study on the impact of the late Quaternary extinction of megafauna on the megafauna-deprived ecosystems is published by Galetti et al. (2018).[525]

A study on the impact of major, abrupt environmental changes over the past 30,000 years on the Great Barrier Reef is published by Webster et al. (2018).[526]

Evidence of sea level drop relative to the modern level at the shelf edge of the Great Barrier Reef between 21,900 and 20,500 years ago, followed by period of sea level rise lasting around 4,000 years, is presented by Yokoyama et al. (2018).[527]

A study on the fossil-bound nitrogenisotope records from the Southern Ocean is published by Studer et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicative of an acceleration of nitrate supply to the Southern Ocean surface from underlying deep water during the Holocene, possibly contributing to the Holocene atmospheric CO2 rise.[528]

A study on the past biodiversity, population dynamics, extinction processes, and the impact of subsistence practices on the vertebrate fauna of New Zealand, based on analysis of bone fragments from archaeological and paleontological sites covering the last 20,000 years of New Zealand's past, is published by Seersholm et al. (2018).[529]

A study on the causes of replacement of mature rainforests by a forest–savannah mosaic in Western Central Africa between 3,000 y ago and 2,000 years ago, based on a continuous record of 10,500 years of vegetation and hydrological changes from Lake Barombi Mbo (Cameroon) inferred from changes in carbon and hydrogen isotope compositions of plant waxes, is published by Garcin et al. (2018), who interpret their findings as indicating that humans triggered the rainforest fragmentation 2,600 years ago.[530][531][532][533][534]

A study on the vegetational and climatic changes since the last glacial period, based on data from 594 sites worldwide, and aiming to estimate the extent of future ecosystem changes under alternative scenarios of global warming, is published by Nolan et al. (2018).[535]

A study on the changing ecology of woodland vegetation of southern mainland Greece during the late Pleistocene and the early-mid Holocene, and on the ecological context of the first introduction of crop domesticates in the southern Greek mainland, as indicated by data from carbonized fuel wood waste from the Franchthi Cave, is published by Asouti, Ntinou & Kabukcu (2018).[536]

A study on changes in plant pathogen communities (fungi and oomycetes) in response to changing climate during late Quaternary, as indicated by data from solidified deposits of rodent coprolites and nesting material from the central Atacama Desert spanning the last ca. 49,000 years, is published by Wood et al. (2018).[537]

A study on the parsimony and Bayesian-derived phylogenies of fossil tetrapods, evaluating which of them are in closer agreement with stratigraphic range data, is published by Sansom et al. (2018).[538]

A study aiming to infer the causes of differences between estimates of speciation and extinction rates based on molecular phylogenies and those based on fossil record is published by Silvestro et al. (2018), who provide simple mathematical formulae linking the diversification rates inferred from fossils and phylogenies.[539]

A review of extinction theory and the fossil record of terrestrial diversity crises, comparing past diversity crises of terrestrial vertebrate faunas with the ongoing Holocene extinction, is published by Padian (2018).[540]

A new metric, which can be used to quantify the term "living fossil" and determine which organisms can be reasonably referred to as such, is proposed by Bennett, Sutton & Turvey (2018).[541]

A study on melanosomes preserved in the integument and internal organs of extant and fossil frog specimens, evaluating their implications for inferring colours of extinct animals on the basis of melanosomes preserved in fossil specimens, is published by McNamara et al. (2018).[544]

A study on fossil vertebrate tissues and experimentally matured modern samples, aiming to the mechanism of soft tissue preservation and the environments that favor it, is published by Wiemann et al. (2018).[545]

A mechanistic model that simulates the history of life on the South American continent, driven by modeled climates of the past 800,000 years, is presented by Rangel et al. (2018).[546]

A study on temporal trends in biogeography and body size evolution of Australian vertebrates is published by Brennan & Keogh (2018), who interpret their findings as indicating that gradual Miocene cooling and aridification of Australia correlated with the restricted phenotypic diversification of multiple ecologically diverse vertebrate groups.[547]

A study evaluating how faithfully stratigraphic ranges of extant Adriatic molluscs are recorded in a series of cores drilled through alluvial, coastal and shallow-marine strata of the Po Plain (Italy) is published by Nawrot et al. (2018), who also evaluate the implications of their study for interpretations of the timing, duration and ecological selectivity of mass extinction events in general.[548]

A study on the evolution of morphological disparity (i.e. diversity of anatomical types), as indicated by data from 257 published character matrices of fossil taxa, is published by Wagner (2018).[549]

A study aiming to estimate the magnitude and potential significance of palaeontological data from specimens housed in museum collections but not described in published literature is published by Marshall et al. (2018).[552]

A study assessing the similarity of future projected climate states to the climate during the Early Eocene, the Mid-Pliocene, the Last Interglacial (129–116 ka), the Mid-Holocene (6 ka), preindustrial (ca. 1850 CE), and the 20th century is published by Burke et al. (2018).[554]

Sallan et al. (2018) traced the cradle of evolutionary origins and diversification of fish from the mid-Paleozoic era in nearshore environments.[555]

Smith et al. (2018) examined the teeth of Neanderthal children who lived 250,000 years ago in France, in order to comprehend their nursing duration, and the effect of lead exposure and severe winters on them.[557]

^ abcKun Liang; Robert J. Elias; Dong‐Jin Lee (2018). "The early record of halysitid tabulate corals, and morphometrics of Catenipora from the Ordovician of north‐central China". Papers in Palaeontology. 4 (3): 363–379. doi:10.1002/spp2.1111.

^ abJuan L. Benedetto (2018). "The strophomenide brachiopod Ahtiella Öpik in the Ordovician of Gondwana and the early history of the plectambonitoids". Journal of Paleontology. 92 (5): 768–793. doi:10.1017/jpa.2018.9.